Heart of the Matter
by jessers113
Summary: Zoe's summer in New York is cut short when she gets a phone Once she returns to Bluebell she has to deal with three different situations dealing with the heart, all in one
1. Earl Pt 1

**You guys can't get rid of me :) I wrote this story in the beginning of the summer and then forgot about it. Seeing Earl in the promo for the premiere reminded me of it. It's only a few chapters so I hope you enjoy it.**

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"Come on Zoe, we don't have all day. I have to be at work in 5 hours. We need to get our shopping on."

"Ok I'm coming. I don't know which purse I want to use."

Gigi just rolled her eyes. Zoe's phone started to ring and Gigi ran to it.

"It's Wade. I thought you said you haven't talked to him in a month?"

"I haven't" she said snatching the phone from her friend "Hello?"

_"Hey Zoe, are you busy?" he asked very distant and nervous_

She could tell something was wrong. "No, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

_"I'm fine, it's Earl. I went to check on him today and the old man had fallin off a ladder and broke his wrist. I brought him to the hospital and Brick suggested he get a physical since he hadn't had one in years. So they did and um they think he has some kind of heart condition, they're not really telling me what it is and I don't really think they even know much. I was hoping you might know something."_

"What is it?" she asked very concerned about Earl

_"Um they think Alcoholic Caridothr.."_

"Cardiomyopathy?" she asked

_"Yeah, that's it. What is it and is it curable?"_

"I had a patient with it a couple years ago. It thins out the heart muscles and enlarges the heart due to the large consumption of alcohol. That causes the muscles of the heart to function inefficiently. There isn't a cure but I would have to see his test results to see how serious it is. It can be treated though to keep it from getting worse."

Wade was silent for a moment. _"Thanks, I'll let you go"_

"Woah, hold on. Who's his doctor?"

_"Not sure__.__ Right now it's just Brick and the ER doctor. He says that the best heart doctor in Mobile is away right now and they are waiting on a call back from someone in Birmingham. They aren't sure how long that will take."_

"I'm coming home! He's my patient, I'll be there tomorrow."

_"Dammit, Zoe! No, that is not why I called you. You can't just up and leave your job there because of Crazy Earl. I just wanted some more information than what they were giving me. I knew this was a mistake."_

"This is not a discussion Wade and not a mistake. I will text you later with my flight information and you better be at that airport."

Wade sighed, he had a feeling arguing with her would do no good and he really didn't have the energy. _"Fine, but if you can't leave, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll be fine."_

"I will see you soon. Tell Brick I'm coming and to cancel that other doctor."

_"Fine, see you soon...Thanks Zoe"_

"Anything for you, Bye"

_"Bye" he hung up and went to find Brick._

Gigi stared at her friend. "What's going on?"

"Wade's dad has a heart condition, if you didn't gather that. I have to go home to take care of him."

"Wade or his Dad?" Gigi asked with a smirk

XXX

"Brick, I just got off the phone with Zoe and she said she's coming home. She's hoping to be here tomorrow."

"I was going to suggest you call her or I was going too. The doctor from Birmingham is good but he's no Zoe Hart. I bet she knows exactly what to do."

"She seems to know a lot about it, said she had a patient with it."

"Even better. I'll go tell the doctor, why don't you go see your Dad."

Wade walked down the hall and into Earl's room.

"Hey" Wade said walking over to the bed

"Hello Son, come to give me some more good news?"

"Actually" he laughed a little "You are getting the best doctor any of us could ask for."

"The guy from Birmingham? They didn't seem to convinced he was very good."

"No, Zoe's coming home, hopefully she can be here by tomorrow."

"You call her?"

"I did."

"Thanks." Wade just nodded "That girl is something special. Didn't you say she has a fancy surgeon job up there?" again he nodded "And she's coming home just because I have a little problem? I doubt that. She's coming home because you called her."

"I don't think so."

"Oh I do, If Brick called her, she would have given him advice on what to do and that would be the end of it."

"No, you're her patient and she's coming home because she knows exactly how to handle your condition."

"Like I said she could do that over the phone."

XXX

"Dr. Thompson, I need to speak with you." Zoe asked knocking on the Chief's door

"Dr. Hart, please come in, sit"

"Thank you" she said sitting down in the chair across from him "There is a medical emergency with one of my patients back in Alabama. He might have Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy and I need to go and see for myself what is going on."

"Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy is usually only diagnosed in the later stages right before heart failure. There might not be anything you can do."

"I know that and that is one of the main reasons I need to get down there fast. It seems to be found by accident. He broke his wrist and was brought to the ER. Doctors did some tests and found it. They aren't the best heart doctors down there."

"Well you can't just leave here unless you plan on not coming back. You can't be a doctor in two places at once."

"I know that and I honestly wasn't planning on returning. If he has this and I can treat it, I will need to be there 24/7."

"Alright, I don't think arguing with you is going to change your mind. You can finish out your day and you can be done. I've seen this condition twice before and one time it turned out fine, the other, he was gone in 3 days. I had a feeling you wouldn't last the whole summer here anyway. Your heart is not in New York anymore. Good luck Dr. Hart."

"Thank you for the opportunity and you're right. My heart is in Alabama." with that she got up and left. She called her mom to have her set up the first flight out of there tomorrow and back to Alabama.


	2. Earl Pt 2

Zoe was so nervous on the flight. She had talked to Brick that night and he filled her in on Earl's test results. They seemed to have caught it before it got bad but she was still worried that they might have missed something. Once the plane landed she grabbed her bag and ran through the airport. She spotted Wade pacing by the windows.

"Wade" she called out and his head snapped up. She saw a small smile form on his lips and she copied it. She did notice that he looked pale and very reserved with his hands in his pockets. When she was finally face to face with him she widened her smile and said "What, no hug?"

He let out a soft chuckle, pulled his hands out of his pockets and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same all while taking in his scent that she missed so much. Wade instantly relaxed more with that hug then he has in the last 2 days.

"How are you?" she asked

"I'm doing fine, considering."

"Well you look horrible, have you slept or even eaten anything?"

"Not really" he shrugged as he picked her bag up off the floor and started walking towards baggage claim

"Well you need to do both."

Once they got her bags, Wade loaded them into his trunk and they were on their way.

"We're going to the hospital right?" she asked

"I wasn't sure where you wanted to go."

"Hospital"

"Alright. How come you have so much crap for a visit?"

"It's not a visit, I'm back for good. I quit my job."

"You what?" he screamed and almost swerved off the road

Zoe grabbed a hold of his arm to steady herself. When they got back on track she started. "Yeah, that wasn't a permanent position anyway, you knew that."

"Yeah but you said it was like 3 months. If I knew you were going to quit I never would have called you. Why did you that?"

"Earl is my patient and this is a big condition. Plus I wasn't happy up there, I missed Bluebell and all of the people...and you. I wanted to come home and Earl just gave me the push to do something about it. "

"I thought you needed time to think and clear your head."

"I did that, and because of it I was depressed and realized that Bluebell is my home now but I knew I couldn't go tell my chief that."

"So we should be glad Earl could be dying?"

"He's not dying Wade" she put her hand back on his arm "Everything will be fine, Brick read me his test results. I think with the right medicine and a new diet, he will be ok. As long as he stops drinking."

"Yeah, that's easier said than done." he sighed "I can't lose another parent to some stupid illness."

"I know and I will do everything in my power to not let that happen." She squeezed his forearm and gave him a small smile "Trust me"

The rest of the ride was silent. When they got to the hospital, Wade led her up to Earl's room and they walked in.

"You missed me so much you went and got yourself a heart condition?" Zoe said trying to lighten the mood she knew would get serious fast if she didn't.

Earl smiled and laughed "I guess so Dr. Hart. I'm just glad I get the pretty doctor. You didn't have to come all the way back just for me though."

"Of course I did." she walked over to him and did a quick check of his heart and breathing, then she pulled his chart off the bed and started reading it over. Wade paced behind her nervously. "Stop pacing" she said matter of factly not even looking up from the chart. Wade stopped and sat in a nearby chair. Earl just smiled. "Well Earl, you definitely have Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy. Good news is, it is in the early stages. You're lucky you broke your wrist. Once the doctor comes in, I will discuss the medications to put you on. Most importantly you need to stop drinking or it will get worse."

"I know that Doc, that I figured out all on my own."

"Good, you better do it though." she warned

"I will"

She turned to Wade "You" she started and his head popped up "I want you to go home tonight, obviously you've been staying here. You need to eat and sleep, I don't need two Kinsella's to worry about."

"Yes ma'am" he joked flashing that signature smirk

"I'm not kidding." she walked over, knelt down and put her hands on his knees "He's going to be fine, trust me. I bet he can even be discharged today since I can officially diagnose him. There is no reason for him to be here anymore."

Just then the doctor walked in and Zoe stood back up

"You must be Dr. Hart, I'm Dr. Klien. Have you looked over Mr. Kinsella's results?"

"I have and you guys were correct. It is Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy, but as I suspected it is in the early stages. I already talked to him about cutting ALL alcohol, but he will need to be on a low-sodium diet for now on." she looked over at Earl and he nodded "You will be put on a couple medications, one to help make your heart pump more effectively, most likely nitroglycerin or some sort of beta-blocker. Another one to help reduce water retention and we might have to up your blood pressure meds. Other than that I think he should be just fine. If he keeps up with everything" she gave Earl a warning look and he nodded back at her again with a smile

"That's what I was thinking, I guess Mr. Kinsella you are good to go." Dr. Klien said

"Thank God, two days here was more than enough."

"I will get the nurses to draw up the paperwork" he responded and left the room

Wade was still sitting in the same chair, he didn't seem to move at all. Zoe walked over and looked at him. He was out of it, just staring into space. Without even thinking about it, she made her next move. She sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You ok there Cowboy?" she asked and that seemed to bring him out of his trance

He smiled "Yeah, I guess just trying to process everything. He's really going to be ok?"

"Yes, he is as long as he takes care of himself from here on out." she looked over at Earl again

"I heard you the first 3 times, I will, I promise." Earl reassured her "Y'all are cute together"

"We're not together" Wade snapped, Zoe jumped at his sudden outburst and Wade immediately regretted it. She went to stand up but he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry, that just caught me off guard and he's been bugging me about you for a month."

"It's ok, I'm going to go wait out in the hall, let Earl get dressed and ready to go." she said unwrapping his hands from her waits and standing up. She smiled at Earl and walked out the door

"She loves you and you should do something about that." Earl stated

"I don't want to hear it. We talked before she left, I told her I loved her. The ball is in her court, she knows where I stand. She said she needed time and space and I'm giving her that."

"She came back here more for you than me. I bet if you had just called her and asked her to come home she would have."

"We are not talking about this anymore. Get up and get dressed so we can get out of here."

15 minutes later the paperwork was done and the three of them were on their way home.

"So Doc, what kind of awful food am I going to have to be eating?" Earl asked from the front seat of Wade's car.

"Nothing awful, Lots of fruits and veggies, seafood but not fried. Chicken and oatmeal are also good." she informed him. "You can live a perfectly normal life."

"That's not bad, except the not fried stuff."

"Sorry" she laughed. "How's the Rammer Jammer Wade?"

"It's fine."

"Lemon?"

"Annoying."

"Meatball?"

"Alright I guess."

Earl smacked his sons arm and gave him a "What is wrong with you?" look. Wade just shot an annoyed one back at him. Zoe sat in the back and returned her gaze out the window. It was silent the rest of the way home.

Wade, Zoe and Earl went into Earl's house and cleaned up all the alcohol. Wade put it all in a box in his car and went back in. He heard Zoe and Earl talking and slipped behind the door.

"I don't know what's wrong with him. You'd think he'd be happy that I'm not dying."

"I think his crankiness has more to do with me than you. I'm not sure why though. He was fine when I first got back and then he found out that I was back for good and immediately went cold."

"He loves you"

"I know that" she couldn't help but smile

"You love him" he told her

Zoe just nodded

"You should tell him or does it still have to do with him cheating?"

"No, he explained all that to me and I have forgiven him. I was going to tell him either later or tomorrow. When everything dies down a bit."

"You think you'll give him another try?"

"I want to but the way he's been acting I don't know if he wants to anymore."

"Talk to him, from what I've gathered, talking isn't you guyses strong suit."

Zoe laughed "That is true."

"How's it going in here?" Wade popped back in

"Good, I made a grocery list and cleaned out the fridge. Everything else is fine. I will get your medicine tomorrow and we will be good to go."

"That's great, now why don't the two of you get going. It's late and I'm tired. You must be exhausted and I know my son is."

"I am" Zoe agreed "Ready?" she asked Wade walking towards the door

"Yep" he smiled and followed behind her guiding her out the door with his hand on her back "We'll see you tomorrow Dad" they both climbed in the car "You hungry?" Wade asked as they made their way out of the woods

"I could eat and you have to soooo, Rammer Jammer?"

"Sounds good" he said making the turn towards the bar

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**Don't worry, it's not over yet. Zoe still has two more issues to solve ;)**


	3. Rose

**OK! Now for issue #2. I hope you like it :)**

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When they walked into the Rammer Jammer Zoe was bombarded with towns people. Everyone was so excited to see her back. They all knew she was coming back because of Earl so they had a million questions. How long she'd be back for? How Earl was doing? Is she staying for good? She answered everyone's questions and they finally got to a table. Wanda came over to take their order.

"Hey guys! Zoe, it's so good to see you, you have been missed. What can I get you both?"

"I'll just have an order of french fries." Wade told her

"No, he'll have the fried chicken dinner and so will I. With some beers that keep on coming." Zoe told her

"Oh ok" Wanda was confused but wrote it all down and went back to the kitchen

"I can take care of myself."

"I think we figured out months ago you can't."

"You don't have to take care of me anymore." he whispered

"I want to"

"Are you going to sit at my house all night and make sure I sleep too?"

"If I have to I will." she laughed "I'm really proud of Earl. He seems to be taking this very seriously."

"Yeah for now, we'll see if he keeps it up."

"I think he will. He loves you."

Wade rolled his eyes. "Debatable."

"Oh stop it. You know he does."

He sighed "I guess."

Wanda came out with their food and more beers. "Enjoy guys."

"Oh I will. I actually missed Rammer Jammer food." She smiled and Wade chuckled at her.

While they ate it was silent until Zoe decided to break the silence. She looked over at Wade "Listen Wade." She started and he looked over at her "I want to talk to you about..."

"O-M-G Zoe!" Rose squealed as she ran up to their table. "You and I need to talk. I have missed you so much."

"Rose, I talked to you almost every day while I was gone."

"Yeah but I didn't want to talk about the thing I have to talk about on the phone."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Should I leave?" Wade asked

"Um, no, I could use your opinion as well, you're kind of like a brother and might have some information and you won't tell my parents."

"Alright, what's up?"

"Well, Max and I were talking the other day about us and..."

"Are you asking us for relationship advice because I don't think we are qualified to give any." Zoe stated

Wade laughed "True" he told Rose

"It's not really about the relationship per se, more like what we should or want to do." Rose said kind of confused by her own words

Zoe and Wade's eyes bugged out of their heads simultaneously.

"Are you talking about se.." Zoe started

"NO, NO, NO" Wade scolded her "Don't even think about it. Did he bring this up? Is it his idea? I'll kill him! Where is he?" Wade started to get up but Zoe pulled him back down and shoved a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Shut up Wade, you're causing a scene. Rose you are 16 and waaaay to young to be having sex" she whispered

"You have sex when you're married." Wade told her pointing a chicken leg at her

"Oh, cause the two of you are the king and queen of abstinence?"

"We are not talking about us, we are talking about you." Wade said again

"From what I've heard you were 14 when you first had sex." she looked at Wade

"Yeah well, it was a mistake." Zoe and Rose both raised their eyebrows at him "We're not talking about me!" he snapped "You" he pointed at Rose "not happening, end of discussion."

"Where is this coming from? Courtney Ann? Tanya? Sarah Lynn?" Zoe asked

"All of them"

"That doesn't mean you have to, Rose. We have talked about this before. You said you wanted to wait and you said Max did to."

"Yeah well the football team has been on his back"

"I'm gonna kill him" Wade spoke up again

"Not helping" Zoe gave him a stern look "eat more chicken" she pushed the plate towards him

Rose laughed at the sight in front of her "You guys are going to be awesome parents"

"Parents to what?" Wade asked and looked at Zoe horrified glancing down at her stomach

Zoe looked at him confused and then realized what he could be thinking. "Oh my gosh, no! I am not pregnant" she whispered

Wade breathed a sigh of relief and took a long swig of his beer.

"Rose, listen to your heart not your brain or your friends. I have learned that the heart tells you exactly what you want. Your brain only screws things up." she smiled and looked at Wade for a second and turned back to Rose. "What is it telling you?

"To wait." Rose said

Wade finally composed himself after the scare and turned his attention back to Rose. "Don't listen to those people and tell Max the same thing. Or tell him to come see me. If you are not ready, you will regret it. Stick with your original plan and wait. Did you just see the panic on my face when I thought the Doc was pregnant? Do you want that feeling?"

"No" Rose answered "You guys are right. It's just everyone was talking the other night at Tanya's party and me and Max were just sitting there and we got to talking about it and are both so confused."

"Sex is not the answer." Zoe told her "Just because your friends are doing it, doesn't mean you have to. You're a smart girl, you should know that." she put her hand on Rose's arm

"I know that, thanks guys. I'm glad both of you were here. You make a good team."

Zoe and Wade smiled at each other and turned back to Rose. "Just remember what we said next time you're with those kids."

"Oh I'll be remembering Wade's face from 3 minutes ago forever."

"That works too" Zoe laughed

"I'll see you guys around" she got up from the table and gave them both a hug and then left

"We handled that pretty well." Wade spoke up

"Oh yeah, you were real calm." Zoe rolled her eyes and let out a small chuckle

"Hey! She's way too young."

"I know, it was really cute how protective you got."

"Well I'm protective of the people I care about."

"I am well aware of that. I love that about you." she put her hand on his shoulder "You are such a great guy."

"You think so?"

"I do" she smiled "You really got scared before didn't you?"

"Uh yeah"

"I can't believe you thought I could be pregnant."

"We did have sex a month ago."

"True, but I would have told you before I ever said anything to Rose and I'm drinking beer." she laughed taking the last swig of her beer. "You ready? I'm exhausted."

"Ya know in a time of panic you don't think of the details." he said standing up from the table. He handed some money to Wanda as they left and they climbed back in Wade's car

"I can't wait to get back in my own bed. I've missed it"

"I bet, I miss it too." Wade thought for a moment "That came out weird. I only meant by comfort level, my mattress sucks."

Zoe was hysterical "I've missed you" she laughed "But I know what you mean, I hated your mattress."

When they got to Zoe's house Wade helped bring her bags in and helped her get settled again.

"Thanks for everything Zoe. I really appreciate you coming back for Earl"

"I came back for you Wade."

"What?"


	4. Zoe and Wade

**Thanks everyone! I hope you enjoy the final chapter :)**

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Zoe smiled "I came back for you. Yeah I was concerned about Earl but I could have had Brick send me his results and I could have told him what to do. When I saw your name on my phone I immediately knew I needed to come home, to you. That was before I knew something was wrong with Earl."

Wade just looked at her and said the first thing that came to mind "Why didn't you just come home then?"

"I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"You wouldn't want me, need me. You found someone else."

Wade smiled "Zoe, there is no one else for me. I will always want you, need you. You're it."

Zoe wiped a single tear from her eye. "Since when are you so good with words?"

"Just telling you how I feel." He shrugged with a smirk

Zoe smiled "You're good at that recently. You're speech at the fence has been playing in my head for a month. It took me a plane ride to forgive you and night with Jonah Breeland to know that I want us to be an Us again."

Wade was smiling but it fell quickly when he processed what she said "A night with Jonah Breeland?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Not like that. He showed up at that wedding I was going too and well I couldn't just turn him away so he came in with me. He was supposed to keep his mouth shut but that didn't happen and then we went our separate ways after the wedding. I couldn't wait for that wedding to be over. I almost called you right before it but he showed up. Everyone there was asking about my personal life and my professional life. It was so frustrating. All I wanted to do was be back in Bluebell with you. Then I had my mother and Gigi on my back asking about you and George and ugh it was so annoying."

"Yes, questions of Tucker can be annoying. I've had them for the last month too. My favorite being "Do you think Zoe and George ran off together?" That was awesome." He rolled his eyes

Zoe chuckled "Oh my gosh, that would never happen. I am so done with that drama. There is only one guy I see in my future."

"Lavon?" he joked

"No you jerk, you." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Wade, I love you and I missed you so much. I want us to start over."

Wade smiled. He almost couldn't believe what he just heard. "I love you too and I am so happy that you came home. I missed you and everything with Earl was so…."

"Wade." she interrupted and he looked up at her "Shut up and kiss me."

And he did just that. When they broke apart he rested his forehead on hers.

"I've missed that" he whispered

"Yeah, but I missed you more. Let's not screw this up this time, please."

"I won't if you don't" he kissed her nose and tucked a stray hair behind her ear "Life is short Doc, I've learned that again the last couple days. When the doctors told me that my Dad had a heart condition and they didn't know exactly what it was or how to cure it." He paused and took a breath "I was so scared and all I could think about was you. How If I lost him, all I would have left was you and you weren't even here. I had to call you even if there was a chance you wouldn't come back."

"Oh baby, your Dad is not going anywhere and neither am I. You also have more people in your life that love you then just me and your Dad. You have Lavon, Lemon, AB and Meatball." She scrunched her nose on the last one. "This whole town loves you. They would do anything for you and don't forget about Rose." She smiled

"Yeah, that kid is pretty cool. A little crazy sometimes and that conversation we had with her today was quite…interesting?" he questioned

Zoe laughed "Yeah, you could say that. I never expected to have that conversation with anyone let alone Rose."

"You were awesome with her, always have been. Your little heart and brain speech was pretty incredible too."

"I've been fighting that same battle for months, years actually, 2 to be exact. My brain had a picture that my heart has been desperately trying to change. But Baby, my heart has finally won. This" she pointed between the two of them "is it for me as well. You and me and that's it. Well maybe a dog." She giggled

Wade kissed her "a dog huh?"

"I've always wanted one. I can see us with a dog." She shrugged

Wade nodded "A big dog, not some small ankle biter."

Zoe smiled and laid her head on his shoulder and took his hand in hers "Whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" he asked

"Well let's not get crazy here. I meant with the dog."

"We'll see about that." He kissed her head "I'm glad your heart won."

"It's about time" she smiled


End file.
